[itsrobert]

It seems the implications of the merger are starting to filter through to 'ordinary' people. A work colleague of mine mentioned how BBC News has effectively given up and moves to Singapore at night. It led to an office chat that included moans about there being no stories from the UK anymore and that it's all foreign news. I explained the rationale behind the merger (i.e. protecting BBC World News output/audiences) which was met with "why do we pay for this rubbish?"

Granted, it's only one office but I'm sure there are more people thinking the same across the UK. And these are not 'pres fans' - just regular people.

I tried the new news channel in its first couple of weeks but have given up completely now. I dipped in at the weekend only to find foreign stories that had no interest or relevance to me, so I switched over. In fact, the only BBC News output I ever see now is Breakfast as the BBC1 bulletins are not really at suitable times for me. That's why I liked the old BBC News Channel as you could get a good dose of UK news at strange times like 7/8pm. Or 9/10am if on a late shift. Now, I just go between the ITV Evening News and Sky News. And I flick around between Breakfast, GMB and Sky News at breakfast time to miss the adverts.